Community Infrastructure Levy consultation opens

Community Infrastructure Levy consultation opens

Chiltern and South Bucks District Councils are looking to establish a Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL) which is a charge on developments to help fund the cost of providing infrastructure to support the growth of the two districts.

The CIL is being established alongside the production of the Joint Local Plan which will set out the vision for the two districts, including policies to guide new development and determine planning applications, new site allocations and land designations until 2036.

The Councils are launching a public consultation to seek views on the proposed rates of CIL.

Cllr John Read, Portfolio Holder for Planning and Economic Development at South Bucks District Council, said: "Most development has some kind of impact on infrastructure and therefore it is reasonable to expect that developers contribute to the cost of providing or improving that infrastructure.

"The Community Infrastructure Levy would ensure that this happens, and unlike the current system which tends to affect mainly larger developments, the CIL could be used for smaller ones too and would be proportionate to the scale of the development."

Following the consultation, which runs from Friday (2 November) until midnight on 14 December 2018, the Councils will take account of the comments received and produce a Final Draft Charging Schedule for consultation.

The comments received on this later consultation will be considered by an independent Planning Inspector who will determine if the CIL charging schedule can be adopted by the Councils.

Cllr Peter Martin, Portfolio Holder for Planning and Economic Development at Chiltern District Council, said: "It's important that we have a CIL in place so that we have a clear and consistent mechanism for collecting developer contributions, in anticipation of significant amounts of development in the coming years.

"We'd like to hear from residents, developers, planning agents, infrastructure providers and any other interested parties to hear their views on the introduction of the CIL and the proposed rates."